Two weeks ago, I went up to Boston to look around the archives at Harvard’s Houghton Library. We arrived on a Monday night, and I read from Tuesday to Thursday. And I do mean from Tuesday to Thursday. Those three mornings, at around 9:45 AM, I checked in at Houghton. After lockering everything except my laptop, phone, and chargers, I was buzzed into the “Reading Room” where I sat and read until 5 in the evening.

Hello everyone. In my first post I mentioned that part of my research is going to take place in the archives of the British Museum. However, at that time I was not entirely sure what would be in there. Well, I’ve spoken with Stephanie, the head archivist at the Central Archive, and set up an appointment, as well as found more about what exactly I’ll be looking at. There are the Trustees Minutes, documents I already knew about, which will provide first-hand evidence of policy building at the Museum. I’m really excited to delve into these, because I know there is going to be so many little gems and tidbits that I just wouldn’t be able to find in books. In connection with these are the Trustees Papers, which correspond to the Minutes and are the documents and personal writings of the Trustees. There are also early guides to the Museum, which will let me know exactly how the layout has changed through the years, showing what objects they highlighted, and what language they used to describe them. (I’ve already done a little bit of this, but only with how the Museum is currently laid out. Something interesting is that Africa is represented by a single room in the basement. Yikes!) Last I have the signature books of every reader in the Reading Room from 1795-1970. This is going to be a lot to go through, but I’ll be able to find out who was working there, and at what time. Plus I get to see the signatures of so many famous historical figures. Well, that’s my update for now. I’ll post more in future as my research comes along. Cheers!